


Truth or Dare

by ThatWaxLion



Series: Confessions [1]
Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Confessions, Emotional Baggage, F/M, Slow Burn, So Much Unresolvedness Here, Stakeout, Strained Friendships, Strained Relationships, Trust Issues, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Unresolved Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:33:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29117565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatWaxLion/pseuds/ThatWaxLion
Summary: A dull stakeout leads to a tense game of truth or dare.Set somewhere along the current season 2 episodes (up until episode 4).
Relationships: Malcolm Bright & Dani Powell, Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell
Series: Confessions [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2136450
Comments: 11
Kudos: 110





	Truth or Dare

He glanced at his watch. 10:23. So time can, in fact, stand still. Either that or he checked it the third time within a minute.

He rubbed his face tiredly, letting his head fall back on the car seat. His gaze wandered out the passenger’s window. Well, at least the neighborhood was nice. That nineties section of Riverside drive was arguably one of the most charming stretches even by Upper West Side standards; unfortunately, ever since Tom Hanks wandered into that cute little bookshop of Meg Ryan’s, just like everything else, it got swamped with tourists too. At least this particular type of birdwatching provided some entertainment on this otherwise dull and, as far as he was concerned, completely unnecessary stakeout night.

Bright’s focus shifted to the window of the impressive limestone townhouse. The light was on, of course it was. No sign of movement. Of course there wasn’t. He knew their suspect wouldn’t make a move that night. No. Jeanette Friedman, 32, being the May to the late Douglas Minefield’s December in that particular romance, was not stupid enough to do that. And Bright knew that, and because he provided a detailed profile on her to the team, they knew it too and yet here he was, stuck in the weathered LeBaron for the last two and a half hours, waiting for its owner to return. He was just about to start another round of Tetris on his phone when the driver’s car door swung open, letting a cold breeze inside. Bright shivered slightly.

“Hey,” Dani plopped down in the seat, balancing the cup tray in her left hand and a takeout bag in the right. Bright quickly took the tray from her and positioned her paper cup in the cupholder, while bringing his to his lips, inhaling the strong scent of Earl Grey.

“Thanks,” he muttered, taking a sip and burning his tongue immediately with the surprisingly hot and surprisingly tasty beverage.

“I swear this neighborhood. They charge like double for a basic tea around here,” Dani snorted, blowing on the steaming liquid as she fumbled around in the takeout bag, pulling out a chicken bagel. She began unfolding the wrapping.

“Any movement while I was gone?”

“Shockingly, no.” his voice had a more sarcastic edge than he intended to, and he could tell that Dani picked up on it, as he saw her from the corner of his eyes, her posture stiffening for a second.

“O-kay,” she said quietly, fiddling with the wrapping in her lap.

He took another sip from his tea and glanced at his watch. 10:27. He sighed, closing his eyes for a second.

“You good?” Her voice made his eyes sprang open.

“I’m fine.” He replied automatically, staring outside the window. He could tell he was being more of an arrogant asshole than usual. He just couldn’t tell why. Usually, he had no particular issues with long stakeouts, even if they proved to be superfluous and uneventful in the majority of cases. But for some reason, the pointlessness of all this, of _this_ stakeout, of sitting in _this_ car, with her, for hours that should fly by in her company…for hours that now seemed like years, it just… got to him.

“It’s a waste of time,” he muttered to himself, his gaze focused on the lit window, where absolutely nothing was happening. “Nothing will change.”

“Then go.” she said simply, her voice very much reminding him of a cool breeze. “You don’t have to be here. But I do.”

Bright shook his head. “JT’s out for the week and I won’t leave you here on your own.” his voice lost the edge. He was tired.

“I’m not sure it’d make a difference.”

The bitterness of her tone surprised him; but then again, it didn’t. It was there, shimmering on the surface of their interactions for quite some time now. He turned towards her, scanning her features. Her eyes were cast down, her delicate fingers still fidgeting with that wrapping. He slowly turned his head back to the romantically lit cobblestone street in front of them.

“You don’t like me very much nowadays, do you?” he asked quietly, more in a rhetorical fashion.

Dani slowly wrapped the bagel back and put it away. “I could ask you the same thing Bright.”

“And you do, don’t you? Over and over again. ” his muttered reply flew out of his mouth before he could control it. Her head snapped in his direction.

“Excuse me?”

At least, she wasn’t trying to hide the animosity in her voice anymore. Bright sighed and finally turned towards her. “You keep asking me whether I’m okay. That’s it. That’s the majority of our conversations nowadays. That and that dubious look you seem to reserve specifically for me nowadays.” He saw her eyes narrow, her jawline hardened.

“I keep asking you whether you’re okay because you keep feeding me bullshit answers.” Her voice was slightly raised now and definitely shaking with irritation. Bright’s gaze dropped as he shook his head.

“I’m not bullshitting you Dani. I’m f- -“

“Okay then,” her voice was unusually high-pitched, “since you won’t go and you’re _obviously_ not bullshitting me and we have another hour and a half to kill, I say we play a game,” the mock-cheerfulness in her tone made Bright slightly nervous. He risked a sideways glance at her.

She pursed her lips. “Truth or dare. A real classic.”

“What?” Bright chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He could practically feel the tremor forming in his hand.

Dani looked at him intently, then dropped her gaze. “Fine.”

She stuck her hand in her pocket and fished out her phone and plugged in her headset. She was about to put the earphones in when his hand, barely touching hers, stopped her.

“What are you doing?” he asked, his voice softer now.

“I have some podcasts lined up. I’ll leave you to your Tetris.” She wasn’t looking at him. She didn’t intend to.

“Fine, I’m in. But you go first.”

He waited, for her to finally look at him. Dani slightly turned her head, her eyes searching his expression. She slowly nodded and put away her phone.

“Okay.”

“Okay.” Bright shifted in his seat to angle his body towards her, then cleared his throat. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

Bright raised his eyebrows, “Really?” A faint smile curved his lips, as Dani gave him her trademark eyeroll, a remnant of their friendship.

“Really.”

For a couple of seconds, Bright just looked at her intently, his eyes narrowed, his mind racing through all the possible and semi-possible tasks he could and dared to give her. They were in quite a sore spot in their friendship now, after all. Finally, his lips stretched into a slow, mischievous grin. Dani shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

“Alright then,” he clicked his tongue. “I dare you to call Gil, and…-“ he deliberately paused for dramatic effect.

Dani sighed, giving in. “Aaand?”

“And…”, he tapped his chin with his index finger, savoring the moment, smirking at Dani’s clearly annoyed expression, “and, without any preemptive explanation whatsoever, you will sing ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ to him. On speakerphone, of course.” He laid back on his seat, eyeing her, clearly satisfied with himself.

Dani glared at him.

“Two verses,” Bright added hastily, “I assume you know the lyrics. They’re quite famous. Winter, spring, summer or fall, all you have to do is—"

“Fine.” Dani cut him off hissing, and reluctantly got out her phone again and scrolled through her contacts, taking her time finding Gil’s. Before hitting the caller icon, she shot him another look, only widening Bright’s gleeful smile. They waited in silence, then a soft click.

_“Arroyo.”_

Dani gulped. “Um, hey, boss.”

_“Powell? What’s up? Any developments?”_

“No small talk!” Bright mouthed. Dani rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth.

_“Powell? You there?”_

She finally cleared her throat. “Y…you just call…out my name…and you know, wherever…I am…I’ll come…running…to…see you again…”

_“What? I don’t…”_

Dani took a deep breath, trying to ignore Bright’s all-too amused grin. “Winter, spring, summer or fall….all you have to do is call..” her voice grew smaller and smaller as she felt her face flaming up, “And I’ll be there. You’ve got a friend…”

An audible sigh was heard through her phone.

_“Kid, is this some secret code? Are you in trouble?”_

“Two verses!” Bright mouthed, heavily gesturing with his two fingers.

“I’m gonna kill you,” she mouthed back, drawing a finger across her throat to give her silent words more emphasis. She cleared her throat again, “..if the sky above you…grows dark and full of clouds…and that north wind begins to blow…”

 _“Unless you’re in immediate danger detective, I suggest you wrap this up now.”_ Gil’s deadpan voice made Dani cringe and Bright shake from laughter.

“’kay bye boss,” she sputtered, tapping her screen quickly and practically throwing it in her bag.

Bright’s laughter erupted full force. “That was…very special, detective.”

Dani shook her head in disbelief, the absurdity of the situation catching up with her and a smile curved her lips.

“You will pay for this one day, you know that,” she pointed a finger at him threateningly, but the lightness of her voice betrayed her words. As she glanced at him, she noticed his smile reaching his eyes. It had been a while, since they had been like that.

She felt some of the tension ease.

Bright’s laughter gradually faded, but his features remained more relaxed. He glanced at her, silently waiting. Dani nodded.

“Your turn now. Truth or dare?”

His voice was remarkably solemn. “Truth.”

He leaned back, glancing out the window, waiting. His chest tightened. He’d been both dreading and anticipating this moment, having no idea what she would ask and having no idea how he would answer. And if he was being honest with himself, he was secretly glad he couldn’t run anywhere.

“Are you… okay?”

There. The question that had been an unpleasant pinprick for the better part of the last couple of weeks. Now, her quiet voice was like a soft blanket, encompassing him and spreading warmth onto his skin.

“No.” It slipped out of him with an ease that surprised him. He dipped his chin, not sure if he wanted to look at her. There was silence, but it wasn’t…heavy. He felt her eyes on his profile and he hesitatingly opened his mouth, trying to form the words, figure out where to even start. Her fingers, lightly touching his arm, startled him.

“It’s okay.”

He glanced up at her, surprised. She shrugged.

“I won’t push you anymore Bright, I…” she hesitated, swiftly running her fingers through her curls, trying to find the right words, ”I just…don’t want you to feel like…you have to lie to me. It’s okay if you don’t tell me things. Just don’t…lie.” she went silent, unsure how to proceed. Her eyes wandered out the window, then back in the car, finally risking a glance at him. He locked eyes with her, and his lips tilted in a soft, sad smile. _Thank you._ They remained silent for a couple of seconds.

“So, my turn again, huh?” she sighed, trying to shake them out of the moment.

Bright nodded. “Truth or dare?”

“Oh, truth.”

Bright chewed on his bottom lip as he felt a slight tremble in his hand again.

“Do you think I killed Endicott?”

It surprised him that this was the question he feared the answer the most to. He didn’t want to look at her, a conscious decision to shield himself from any additional pain to hearing her answer. But he couldn’t help it. He needed to read her. He tore his gaze away from the Friedman window and his eyes fluttered to her, only to find hers staring directly at him. She slowly shook her head, boring her eyes into his.

“No.” she simply said, the word quietly echoing in his head, his chest. Suddenly, he felt like he could breathe again.

“I…I thought you….” he stuttered, his fingers nervously drumming on his paper cup, “I mean, the way you’ve been around me lately. I thought that you… did.”

Dani slowly nodded, dipping her chin. She remained silent for a couple of seconds, then glanced back at him.

“I don’t believe you killed Endicott. I never have. But that’s…what’s bothering me, Bright, because I don’t _know.”_ she ran her fingers through her curls, an obvious sign of her frustration. Bright looked at her, confused.

“I mean, I have no evidence, no proof,” Dani continued, still searching for words, “it’s just my…gut. It’s an instinct based on nothing else but a…feeling. And that…that scares me, okay? It goes against everything I stand for in my job. I need to have proof.” she bit down on her lower lip, her eyes now cast downward, not wanting to look at him. “So….if I acted like I was onto you, it was because I needed to know whether I’m right or wrong. I keep asking you whether you’re okay because I need to know that you…are. ”

Bright slowly nodded. He knew how her mind worked, how she approached a case; always level-headed, always looking for concrete answers, for hard-boiled evidence. And many times, Bright had witnessed her stilling her instincts, because she didn’t believe they were legitimate, even though at the end, they proved to be right. And this was especially the case when it came to believing him. He just wished he’d understand her better.

“Your turn,” her voice stopped his train of thought. “Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“Profile me.”

His head snapped back to her, startled. “What?”

She stared at him intently. “You heard me. Profile me.”

“I said truth not dare,” he muttered, feeling his pulse quickening. For a while, he thought they were safely back on their track somewhat, but now he felt like their partnership was being pushed to the edge again.

“I thought you don’t like to be profiled.” he said quietly, in a futile attempt to change her mind. 

“Just…do it, okay? Like you would for a case” she glanced out the window, her expression hidden from him.

Bright rubbed his face and took a deep breath. He was just hoping they would both get out of this car fairly unscathed. He cleared his throat, forcing himself to slip into his profiler mode.

“You’re 28. You’d gotten in the force fairly young without any other prior occupations, which indicates a strong childhood influence by someone with the same vocation -in your case, it was your father. You have a strong sense of discipline, without which you wouldn’t have gotten into the field. Your choice of profession also indicates that you are not a thrill seeker, but you are attracted to danger, which probably has its roots in your father telling you stories from work. As anyone who craves being in control, you both resent and yearn to give it up. This is why you excelled at the undercover job at Narcotics and also explains your history with drugs.” he glanced at her, anxious to see her reaction, but her thick curls hid her profile from him.

“You strongly object to intimidation and authoritarianism and any signs of that in a figure of authority will likely set you off, it being one of your stressors. This indicates a past unequal, likely abusive relationship with someone of higher status, which affected your ability to trust others. You are an introvert; you don’t have a lot of friends, partly because of the transformational effect of the personal loss you had suffered and partly because of the difficulties of sharing your experiences with someone outside of your field of work. You keep most people at arm’s length, which also might root in the death of your father, a loss of a crucial and beloved figure in your life.”

He noticed her fingers slightly trembling as she fidgeted with her rings. He went silent, unsure whether to continue. Dani glanced at him.

“Go on.” she said, her voice as unreadable as her expression. Bright silently nodded.

“Your choice of profession and personality traits suggest few serious romantic relationships in the past. The nature of your work, your personal history and your exceptional intellect make it difficult for you to connect with people having mundane jobs and minds, despite your wish for normalcy. You strongly value honesty and loyalty and when these are being compromised, your trust is shattered. That’s why you either break up your relationships because you can’t connect or because your partners bore you or because they… betray your trust.” Bright heard his own voice tremble and he quickly cleared his throat.

“Your physical build and posture suggest that you have been doing athletics since young age, likely long-distance running, as it would correspond with your inclination to solitude and tuning your mind out. Long-distance running also requires a strong sense of discipline and perseverance. You have earned everything through hard work, and you resent those who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths. That’s also why you didn’t like me when we first met.” he smiled lightly and was relieved to see her lips curving up, too.

“Although you are aware of your skills, you often exhibit stress signals that indicate lack of confidence; for example, you often subconsciously touch or rub a specific spot right over your left collarbone. That’s because you have a birthmark on your left shoulder that you feel self-conscious about. Although I don’t understand why, because you are one of the most competent persons I have ever met and also that birthmark is unique and part of you and therefore beautiful,” he said matter-of-factly, glancing out of the window.

“Wait, how do you- -“

“Your outfit in Estimé’s club. You kept putting the fabric back in place whenever you felt the birthmark exposed.” He kept his eyes focused on the Friedman window.

“While you’ve been known to pull all-nighters at the precinct, recently, you often checked out right after your shift has ended and the case wasn’t demanding your stay. You have changed your hair a while ago. You also reapply perfume more often and your scent has somewhat changed, probably due to increased pheromones,” he paused, trying to maintain a casual tone and carefully avoiding to look at her.

“Which, in turn, is probably due to the fact that you have been seeing someone for a while now.”

Dani Powell felt her face in flames, in fact, she felt her whole body burning up. She never felt more naked, so utterly exposed in her life and it was mind-numbing and somehow liberating at the same time.

But still, it wasn’t enough, it wasn’t all of it.

Her hands trembled and she was sure Bright could see it. Who was she kidding; he saw her, he saw everything. _Almost_ everything.

“I’m sorry Dani, if I overstepped - -“ his sheepish, quiet voice made her chest tighten. She shook her curls.

“You didn’t. I asked you to do that, remember? And you did…a thorough job, as usual.” she licked her dry lips and cleared her throat. “You made one mistake, though.”

Bright looked at her with a curious glance.

“I’m not seeing anyone.” she said quietly.

“Oh,” Bright’s voice mirrored his genuine surprise.

Sure, he was wrong about profiles before, but when he made an incorrect assumption it was usually due to the lack of sufficient information, not because of flawed deductions.

Bright furrowed his brows, his mind filing through all the bits and pieces. It just didn’t add up. Or, exactly the opposite: it just all added up. It didn’t make any sense. He couldn’t be wrong. He looked back at her, trying to read her micro expressions; her eyes were again cast downwards, her fingers again playing with her rings. For a couple of seconds, Bright looked at her intently, his own fingers absentmindedly drumming on his knees, a move that usually helped him concentrate.

_Oh._

He stopped drumming. Slowly, he reached out his hand and touched hers, that was still fidgeting with her rings. She stopped still. He covered her hands with his own, then slowly brushed his thumb along her palm until he reached the delicate skin under her wrist. He gently pressed his finger to her pulse.

Dani closed her eyes. _Now,_ he had all the information.

Bright swallowed hard as she felt her pulse racing under his touch and for a couple of seconds, he sat in stunned silence.

“Is that…why you asked me to profile you?” he finally asked, his voice soft and quiet as he searched her face. His fingers were still entwined with hers, his thumb still resting on her fast-beating pulse.

Dani nodded; her eyes fixed on their hands. “The fact that I…trust you unconditionally, scares the shit out of me Bright and for a long time I couldn’t figure out why I and then…when I did, it scared me even more. I’m afraid it clouds my judgement, that I can’t do my job right. So I tried to be as…detached from you as possible. I never wanted to say anything about…anything, but lately I realized that… that it’s jeopardizing our friendship, no matter what I do, so…” her voice cracked and she couldn’t finish the sentence, with Bright’s fingers still covering hers, his thumb now gently caressing her skin over her wrist.

He nodded, still processing the information he had just learned.

Information about something he never in life thought would be within the realm of possibility. Yes, he has longed for her company for a long time now and in every possible way. He just figured it was so far out of his reach that every touch, smile or tea they have shared was strictly stripped off any possible meaning. He never allowed himself to entertain an idea seemingly so far-fetched. Despite his feelings, he had almost hoped for someone to come along and settle this once and for all, to make it clear it was never going to happen, so he could stop…yearning. So, in a way, he felt a kind of relief when he put two and two together and figured that she was attracted to someone. Turned out, two and two wasn’t adding up to four. Never in his life did he think for one second that she would ever want…him.

He realized they were sitting in silence for some time now. Their fingers were still interlaced, he still felt her warm skin under his fingertips, her rapid pulse, a tell-tale sign of her exposure. She was probably waiting for him, to say or do something that would make her feel less… naked. He shifted in his seat so that he was now fully turned towards her but didn’t let go of her hand. He cleared his throat and spoke softly to her curls, as her eyes were still fixed on their fingers.

“I come in earlier on Thursdays because I know that’s the day when you hit the gym in the morning and you come in early too.” He felt the tip of her finger quiver in his palm. “I don’t expect to see you, I just…know that you are around and that’s enough. If I’m stuck with a profile, I always turn to you first, because I know that if I missed a detail, you would fill in the blanks. When I see a new brand of Earl Grey I haven’t tried before, I always buy a double pack just in case you would drop by my place and wanted to try it too. I sleep better when you text me late night about a case, or anything.”

She raised her head, tearing her gaze from their hands, shifting to his eyes, searching. He swallowed hard, finding it more difficult to continue like this, without any…shield of protection. But they were still bound together by their hands and that gave him courage.

“Your voice calms me down, regardless whether you’re talking about a case or yelling at me. It just does,” she smirked, smiling her trademark half-smile and Bright brushed her fingertips over hers.

“When you walk into the room, it doesn’t matter whether we’re talking at all or not, whether we’re on friendly terms or not, I just immediately feel…better.” His voice dropped low, “You have a physical, psychological…and emotional effect on me Dani and you just make everything better by….being.”

He went silent and he couldn’t hold eye contact with her. He turned slightly away, needing a moment. He felt her fingers entangling from his and he immediately missed the physical contact. He noticed her shifting closer to him in her seat, her scent now enclosing him and he instinctively inhaled it. Yes, she undoubtedly had a strong physical effect on him, one that grew with every second and every inch she was getting closer to him. Finally, he felt her palm on his face, her thumb caressing his cheek and he looked back, straight into her eyes and her dark chocolate eyes and warm breath on his stubble made him give in. He closed the remaining distance, pulling her to him and leaned all in, his lips capturing hers. Her hands flew to his hair, caressing his nape and he was aware of her every touch with every fiber of his being and he wanted to touch and taste every fiber of her being. And when his tongue found hers and his fingers got lost in her curls, a soft moan escaped her lips and Bright realized that time, in fact, can and should stand still.

His mind was spinning. He didn’t understand how they have gotten to this point, whatever and wherever this point was. Especially considering everything that had happened in the last months. The majority of which he had still been hiding from her.

 _You strongly value honesty and loyalty and when these are being compromised, your trust is shattered._ His own words echoed in his mind, now haunting him. Would she be kissing him like that if she knew how he chopped up Endicott’s body? He shuddered.

He reluctantly broke the kiss, and both of them were panting for air, neither of them wanting to tear away.

“There’s something I have to tell you,” he breathed, his fingers still entwined in her dark curls. Her lips, those delicious, full lips found his again and his eyes fluttered shut yet again.

“No more confessions tonight, please,” she murmured, and that husky tone vibrating on his skin was nearly enough for him to forget even his own name, but he knew that there was just too much at stake now. Frighteningly so.

He gently pulled back, his hands cupping her flushed, radiating face.

“Please Dani. I’m not sure what’s happening, but I’m pretty sure that nothing will, if I don’t tell you this, now.” His voice was shaking, because he knew he couldn’t have possibly chosen a worst time and yet, this was his last and only chance to come clean.

Dani let out a soft sigh and nodded, leaning slightly back on her seat.

“Okay. I’m listening.”

xxxxxx

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I originally planned it to be a one shot, but I might explore the aftermath, hence the Part 1-thing.  
> I hope you enjoyed it and if you did, please know that any and all comments and kudos are more than welcome and appreciated!
> 
> Additional note: the pulse-thing was inspired by BBC's Sherlock series.  
> Additional additional note: I took liberties with the birthmark, I obviously have no idea whether Aurora Perrineau has one there or not - just bear with me please :)


End file.
